Barbara Weisberg
{{Short description|American historian, author, and TV producer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
Barbara M. Weisberg (born 1946) is an American historian, author, and television producer. In the 1980s, she co-created the television series Charles in Charge. She has published multiple historical nonfiction books, including Strong Passions, published in 2024.
Early life and education
Weisberg was born in Philadelphia on April 3, 1946, to Samuel and Miriam Weisberg. Her father was a furrier, and her mother was an artist.{{Cite web |title=Weisberg, Barbara 1946- |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/weisberg-barbara-1946 |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Encyclopedia.com |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518173230/https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/weisberg-barbara-1946 |url-status=live}}
Weisberg received a Bachelor of Arts in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa in 1968. She then earned a Master of Philosophy in American Studies from Yale University in 1972 and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Brooklyn College in 1993.{{Cite web |title=Profile - Barbara Weisberg |url=https://go.authorsguild.org/members/737 |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=The Authors Guild |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303183710/https://go.authorsguild.org/members/737 |url-status=live}}
Career
In the early 1980s, Weisberg worked with the Scholastic Corporation as the associate director of television development, after which she joined Consumer Reports, working in a similar position. While there, she created the comedy series Charles in Charge and produced documentary programs, as well as episodes of the television series Livewire.
Awards and honors
Weisberg has received a MacArthur Scholarship in Poetry, the D. Scott Rogo Award from the Parapsychology Foundation in 1998, and the Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest Fund grant for Creative Writers and Artists from the American Antiquarian Society in 1998.{{Cite web |title=Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund Fellowship |url=https://www.americanantiquarian.org/node/112 |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=American Antiquarian Society |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518173231/https://www.americanantiquarian.org/node/112 |url-status=live}}
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution named Talking to the Dead one of the best books of 2004.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune chose Strong Passions as one of the best books of 2024.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-24 |title=Minneapolis Star Tribune: The Best Books of 2024 |url=https://www.yearendlists.com/2024/minneapolis-star-tribune-the-best-books-of-2024 |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=www.yearendlists.com |language=en-us}}
Personal life
On June 20, 1996, Weisberg married writer David Black, who had three children.
Works
= Adult nonfiction books =
- {{cite book |last=Weisberg |first=Barbara |title=Talking to the Dead |date=2004-04-13 |publisher=HarperOne |isbn=978-0-06-056667-8 |publication-place=New York}}{{Cite web |date=2004-01-15 |title=Talking to the Dead |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barbara-weisberg/talking-to-the-dead-3/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=February 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222155947/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barbara-weisberg/talking-to-the-dead-3/ |url-status=live}}
- {{cite book |last=Weisberg |first=Barbara |title=Strong Passions: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York |date=2024-02-20 |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-53152-7}} {{Cite news |last=Schillinger |first=Liesl |date=2024-02-21 |title=The Affair That Split New York High Society |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/books/review/strong-passions-barbara-weisberg.html |access-date=2024-03-03 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518173910/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/books/review/strong-passions-barbara-weisberg.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Charlotte |date=2024-02-16 |title='Strong Passions' Review: Divorce in Old New York |url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/strong-passions-review-divorce-in-old-new-york-34aefcae |access-date=2024-03-03 |work=The Wall Street Journal |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303183704/https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/strong-passions-review-divorce-in-old-new-york-34aefcae |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=2023-11-21 |title=Strong Passions: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York by Barbara Weisberg |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780393531527 |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Publishers Weekly |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303183705/https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780393531527 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |date=2023-12-27 |title=Strong Passions |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barbara-weisberg/strong-passions/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=March 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303183704/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barbara-weisberg/strong-passions/ |url-status=live}}
= Children's nonfiction books =
- {{cite book |last=Weisberg |first=Barbara |title=Susan B. Anthony: Woman Suffragist |date=1989-01-01 |publisher=Chelsea House Pub |isbn=978-0-79-100408-1 |publication-place=New York}}
- {{Cite book |last=Weisberg |first=Barbara |title=Space Creatures |date=2015-02-14 |publisher=CreateSpace |others=Illustrated by Kate Arnold |isbn=978-1-50-094121-5}}{{Cite web |date=2015-07-28 |title=Space Creatures |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barbara-weisberg/space-creatures/ |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226034833/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/barbara-weisberg/space-creatures/ |url-status=live}}
- Coronado's Golden Quest (1993){{Cite book |last=Weisberg |first=Barbara |title=Coronado's golden quest |last2=Haley |first2=Alex |last3=Eagle |first3=Michael |date=1993 |publisher=Raintree Steck-Vaughn |isbn=978-0-8114-7232-6 |series=Stories of America |location=Austin, Tex}}
- The Big Golden Book of Knights and Castles (1993){{Cite book |last=Weisberg |first=Barbara |title=The big Golden book of knights and castles |last2=D'Achille |first2=Gino |date=1993 |publisher=Golden Book ; Western Pub. Co |isbn=978-0-307-17874-9 |location=New York : Racine, Wis}}